


Catching Grenades

by halliver



Category: Tenet (2020)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Violence, Hospitals, M/M, Pining, Rosa the cat is there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:42:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28277817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halliver/pseuds/halliver
Summary: A mission goes wrong, people get hurt, and Wheeler isn’t paid enough for this crap.
Relationships: Neil/The Protagonist (Tenet)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 57





	Catching Grenades

**Author's Note:**

> A couple of wonderful anons sent me some headcanons at tumblr, and I had to write something about them, because combining some angst with pining idiots is my favourite hobby. 
> 
> Also, Rosa the cat from my other fic, Company Policies, makes an appearance in this fic.

When David had decided to invert back into the past, he had expected to spend his time preparing Tenet to face Sator and his men. What he hadn’t expected was a timeline filled with wrong people at the wrong place and wrong time, who had ended up with dangerous knowledge of the true essence of time. “We’re the people saving the world from what might have been”, Neil had told him, and as it turned out, there was no shortage of “might have been”-situations.

The latest headache on David’s table was a criminal organisation in Chicago, a group of smugglers who had, somehow, managed to get their hands on material stolen from one of Tenet’s early bases. A disaster brewing, to be sure, and David was determined to stop that disaster from ever occurring. He tracked down the material, and found it in a vault, and requested backup, easy, simple. “Well send you the first available agent”, he was told.

And of course, as fate would have it, the agent available was Neil. He appeared in the meeting point, lightning up the whole room with his smile when he spotted David.

“Long time no see, boss. I’ve missed you”, he said, and winked, and David’s heart ached a little. In the heat of saving the world, he had found himself in bed with Neil multiple times, but never found the courage to suggest that anything beyond physical attraction would be going on. _Maybe there isn’t. I assume awfully lot from him based on very little evidence._

“It’s been. How are you?”

“Fine. A bit busy. The mess in Barcelona has kept me busy. I talked to Wheeler. She said it’s been a bit messy here, as well.”

“It has, indeed. How well did she brief you about what we are doing here?”

“Something, something, break into a bank, steal some documents, get out, avoid bad guys.”

“Hmm. I mean, you’re not wrong. According to our intel, the documents are in that bank”, David gestured towards the window, “In the vault. Opposition should be minimal, but given the value of the said documents, I wanted some backup with me.”

“Do I even want to know what’s in them?”

“A map containing the locations of at least a dozen of turnstiles, all around the world.”

Neil whistled. “That’s not good.”

“You don’t say.”

“Do you have a plan?”

“I was kind of hoping you would help with that.”

Neil’s eyes lit up. “How much explosions are allowed?”

David let out a short laugh. “I would prefer something stealthy, with minimal drama.”

“No fun allowed, then. All right. I’ll call Mahir, he has a contact that might be able to get us some schematics. Meanwhile, we could just walk in as clients and scout out the place a little. If we really can’t just blow a hole in the wall? That might be the most simple way of handling it.”

“No, we really cannot. An explosion in a bank that large would end up in the news. And the risk of casualties is far too big. We need to be discreet.”

“Scouting mission it is, then. I hope you brought a fancy suit with you.”

David had a strong dislike for undercover missions, but he had to admit, that having Neil with him made it all more bearable. Gone were his usual wrinkly shirts, replaced by an expensive, beautiful suit, and David had to stop himself from staring. Neil flattered their way into the bank’s vault with ease. They had a clear division of work: Neil talked, and David observed. David had to once again wonder why Neil was so allured by explosions, when clearly, his most talents laid in talking bullshit.

“The vault is certainly satisfactory. I assume that you have taken sufficient precautions for…” Neil’s chatter was cut short by a bullet whistling over his head. Someone screamed, David pulled Neil down, and suddenly, they found themselves in a middle of a firefight.

“Right?” David hissed.

“No go. Five men, all armed.”

“Even if we crawl?”

Neil peeked carefully over the counter they were hiding behind. “Nope. Now there’s six. We would be straight in the line of fire. The fire exit?”

“Blocked. This place is a fucking death trap.”

“Tell me you have a gun”, Neil whispered, a small tremor in his voice.

“How? We just went through security. Focus, Neil.”

“I got the distress call out. I don’t think there’s anything we can do. They’re everywhere.”

“Neil, focus. The help is coming.”

Neil laughed, slightly hysterically. “Clearly they’re not. Something is wrong, since when have we had to _wait_ for backup? No one is coming.”

A grenade rolled on the floor and explosion sent the table next to them flying. David felt a hand grabbing his, squeezing far too tightly. He glanced at his hand, then at Neil, who stared into nothingness with his eyes filled with terror, hand clutching to David with desperation.

“Neil, focus. We’ll get out of here. It will be all right.” _He won’t die today. I know he won’t. He’s a bit inexperienced still, he’s scared, but he will be fine._

“No. No exits. Trapped. I checked.”

David’s eyes shot around the room, and soon, he realized that Neil was right. He felt a sliver of panic. _He won’t die today. I might._

“I’m not panicking, boss, if that’s what you’re thinking. I know what I’m talking about. There’s no way out. They will kill us.”

“Neil, they’ll come. It will be fine. Look at me, Neil. It will be -----” His words were cut off by a large explosion that shook the entire building and threw them to the floor. _Neil,_ he tried to scream, but before he could open his mouth, his world went dark.

David opened his eyes. He was lying on the floor, ears still ringing from the explosion. He tried to get up, but a sharp pain in his chest and arm stopped him, and he slumped back down. “Neil?” he tried to say, but all he managed was a hiss. He scanned the room, tried to see through the ash and smoke. A few meters away from him, he spotted Neil’s unconscious body. Neil’s leg was bent in an unnatural angle, and there was a trail of blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. A burning piece of paper fell to the floor, right next to Neil, _too close must get him out must save him._ With all his strength, David gathered himself up, and dragged himself closer to Neil. Before he could stand up properly, the pain in his chest exploded, he collapsed back onto the floor, only managing to grab Neil’s hand. _I’m sorry, my love,_ he thought as he drifted back into darkness.

The second time David woke up, his head felt even cloudier, but the ringing of his ears was replaced with steady beeping. _Hospital. Alive. Neil? Where is Neil?_ David opened his left eye, peeking carefully the room around him. He recognized the ceiling, the door – having woken up there a few too many times. _Tenet. I’m safe._ He opened both of his eyes, and relief washed over him. Next to his bed was an armchair, and on the chair, fast asleep with his cat in his lap, was Neil. He was wearing an oversized blue sweater, and sweatpants, and from the looks of it, he hadn’t shaved his beard in days. His leg was in a cast, there was a cannula attached to his hand, but given the situation, he looked relatively healthy. _He’s alive. He’s safe._

David cleared his throat. “I did not know they allowed cats in the med bay”, he said, and Neil’s eyes shot open, suddenly wide awake.

“You’re awake! You’re awake. How are you? Does it hurt? Are you okay? Do you need anything? How…”

David smiled. “Calm down, Neil. I’m… I think I’m fine.”

“I’ll alert the staff.”

“Neil? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Just focus on breathing.”

David was about to argue, when a wave of dizziness hit him. He closed his eyes and drew a couple of deep breaths. When he opened his eyes again, Neil was staring at him with fear written all over his face. “Seriously, what’s with the cat?”

“Wheeler was catsitting her, and she had to leave to clean up our mess. Ives is still in Sydney.”

“And they just let you keep her here?”

Neil turned his attention to Rosa and scratched her back. “They tried to convince me to stay in my bed and failed. I guess they figured out that Rosa was nonnegotiable, as well. I hope you don’t mind.”

“The cat’s fine. But I do mind that you disobey the doctor’s orders regarding your own health. Are you okay, Neil?”

“Fine. Leg and clavicle broken, couple of bruises, nothing serious. Let’s focus on you, okay? You’re the one that had a rib in your lung. I thought… I thought I got you killed.”

“What happened wasn’t your fault. We were ambushed. It happens.” David attempted to make eye contact to Neil, but Neil was too busy staring at Rosa and biting his lips. Before neither of them could say anything, the room was flooded with doctors, David was examined, and Neil was pushed away.

The next visitor David received was Wheeler. He could tell that she hadn’t slept in a few days, but still, she managed to look rather satisfied with herself.

“The documents are safe”, she announced and sat down next to David’s bed. “They managed to get them all the way to Canada, but luckily, didn’t guard them too tightly. Don’t think they know what they had in their hands. Apparently, they had thought that you were from a competing gang and went nuclear on the reaction. Some neutralization had to be done, but all in all, minimal mess.”

“Excellent job, Wheeler”, David said, and added with a small smirk: “I appreciate the ‘minimal mess’-part. After the enormous mess I managed to make.”

Wheeler snorted. “I heard it was quite the spectacle. Are you okay?”

“A bit sore, but I’ve been through worse.”

“Good thing Neil dragged you out when he did. Could have gotten a lot nastier.”

 _Wait, what?_ David struggled to get his rebellious expressions under control.

“He didn’t tell you?” Wheeler leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. “Figures, was probably too panicked to tell. There was a second explosion after the initial one. You would have been toast, had Neil not dragged your unconscious ass out.”

“With that leg?”

“Yeah, pretty impressing. Adrenaline and all that.”

David felt a familiar bang of guilt in his chest. _Will you ever stop sacrificing yourself for me,_ he wondered, and ignored the small voice in his head whispering to him: _You already know he won’t._

“Where is he now?”

Wheeler hesitated. “In surgery.”

David did his all to stop the raising panic. “Why. Why now.” he snarled.

“Chill, boss. He’s not dying or anything. They needed to do something with his clavicle. He refused to have the surgery before you woke up.”

“Why?” David repeated.

“He’s been in panic over you ever since you were brought in. Refused to leave your bedside. I heard they were considering sedating him if he didn’t calm down. But getting him his furball did the trick.”

“This was hardly his first mission where someone got hurt. What aren’t you telling me? What’s different?”

Wheeler rolled her eyes. “Boss, I am going to ignore the fact that you are my boss for a minute and call you a moron. A huge oblivious moron. It’s not the mission. I’ve been in the field with him before, and usually, he’s the calmest person you’ll ever meet. It’s not that someone got hurt. It’s that you got hurt. You seriously haven’t noticed that he’s in love with you?”

“Oh.” _I haven’t noticed. I have only hoped._

“So, you really haven’t noticed?” Wheeler shook her head. “Really? I thought you had to know. There have been rumours, you know.”

“Do I even want to know?”

“That you’re banging someone. Figured it might be him. I don’t need to know if it’s true or not, we all get bored or lonely sometimes, but I need you to know that Neil is the kind of guy who develops feelings.”

David had a hard time deciding whether he should laugh or cry. Wheeler had become one of his most trusted agents and best friends for her honesty, sharp eyes and intelligence, but being in the receiving end of those qualities regarding his sex life was certainly new.

“What does he expect? For me to marry him and for us to ride into sunset together? We are in a no commitments- kind of business.”

“You want that too, don’t you?” The frustration on Wheeler’s face had turned into a playful smirk.

 _More than anything else, to be honest,_ he wanted to say. “Doesn’t matter what I want, I’m afraid”, he said.

“Of course it matters. You’re the Protagonist. You make the rules, don’t you?”

“I guess so.” He turned his gaze away from Wheeler. “Are you sure? That he has feelings for me?”

Wheeler snorted. “Unless there is another reason for him to light up like a Christmas tree every time he sees you. Neil is many things; subtle he is not.”

David smiled. “I’ll think about it. Thank you, Wheeler. For being… You, I guess.”

Wheeler stood up and bowed a little. “My pleasure. And boss?”

“Yes?”

“Sorry for calling you a moron.”

“If you are right, I think it was deserved.”

The next morning, David woke up to the loud sound of purring. He didn’t need to open his eyes to know what he’d find next to his bed.

“Shouldn’t you be in your bed?” David muttered.

“Not really. Being upright hurts less.” Neil sat in the armchair again, arm propped on a pillow and Rosa sprawled on his lap. “I heard Wheeler managed to clean up our mess.”

“She did. Neil, you know…” _How do I tell him?_ David stared at Neil, his melancholic blue eyes, and gathered all his courage. “I’m glad you’re here. And I’m sorry. For dragging you into this mess. All of this.”

A smile spread across Neil’s face. “Don’t be. Believe it or not, I’m having the time of my life. And I am glad I’m here, too.”

David shook his head. “Neil? I didn’t mean to fall in love with you. But I did. And if I’ve ever given you the impression that you are expendable, in any way, I am truly sorry. Because you are… You are not. You are extraordinary. And I regret never having told you that before. And I hate to see you hurt. And I hate to be without you.”

Neil sat in silence for a while, speechless. When he finally found the words to say, his voice was trembling slightly. “I… I’m not going anywhere. I’m here. Right where I want to be.”

_Now, let me go._

“It might not last forever”, David whispered.

Neil smiled sadly. “Nothing ever does. Doesn’t make it any less precious.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this cheesy little fic! :) I hope you enjoyed it. Originally, this fic was supposed to be just about the mission going wrong, but I got a little bit carried away with my favourite pining idiots.
> 
> Tenet feelings are still going strong, I've had a bit of an writers block, but as the feelings pile up fics tend to happen.
> 
> Want to yell at me about tenet? You can find me at tumblr @kristalliankka


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